Check-row corn-planter.



{No Model.)

Patented Sept l2, 899. A. J. HUGHES & n. c. HINDMAN. CHECK BOW CORNPLANTER;

(Application filed May 9. 1898.)

5 Sheets8heet L 6 MQW T uonms PEIERS cu. PHOYO-UTHO. wmnmcraw. o. c.

-No. 632,717. Patented Sept. I2, I899. A.- .1. HUGHES & n. c. HINDMAN.

CHECK BOW CORN PLANTER.

(Application filed May 9. 1898'; (No Model.) 5 Sheets-8hect 2.

THE NORRIS ravens w, FNOTO-LIIHO wAsnluo'ron, (av cv No. 632,7l7. Y 'Pacented Sept. l2, I899.

A. J. HUGHES & D. C. HINDMAN.

CHECK ROW conn PLANTER.

(Application filed May 9, 1898.) (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

5 Sheet's-Sheetk,

MH azin /A1 Patented Sept. l2, l899.- A. J. HUGHES'& D. C. HINDMAN.

CHECK ROW CORN PLANTER.

(Application filed May 9, 1898.) (N u M o d e l Patented Sept. l2, I899.

5 Sheets-$haez 5.

QQTORS I A. J. HUGHES & D. C. HINDMAN.

CHECK ROW CORN PLANTERv (Application filed May 9, 1898.

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARLA J. HUGHES AND DAVID C. I-IINDMAN, OF RUSIIVILLE, ILLINOIS.

CHECK-ROW CORN-PLANTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 632,717, datedSeptember 12, 1899. Application filed May 9,1898. Serial no. 680,144.(No min.)

To all. whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARLA J. HUGHES and DAVID C. IIINDMAN, citizens ofthe United States of America,and residents of Rushville, Schuylercounty, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCheck- Row Corn-Planters, of which the followingis a specification.

The object of the invention is to provide a corn planter which withoutthe aid-of a checkwire-will place the hills in'proper position and markthe place of each hill.

lVe mount upon the planter-frame drums, cach bearing a cable which hasattached to its free end a weight or anchor to lie upon or engage withthe ground. Then the planter advances, the resistance of each anchor tomovement tends to hold the end of the cable fast, and thus to rotate ina certain direction the drum upon which the cable is wound. Each drumwhen rotated in a forward direction actuates the planters droppingmechanism, and the resistance of either weight is amply sufficient tothus operate the dropping devices. Either drum, or both of them, maybelocked against rotation in the forward direction, and thus either orboth the weights may be carried on with the planter without in any wayacting upon the dropping devices. Either drum may be rotated positivelyin the contrary direction to rewind the cable by throwing intoengagement mechanism operated, as the moving parts of planters areusually operated, from the planters supporting-wheels but such rotationdoes not affect the dropping devices. In the use of the machine one ofthe drums is unlocked, so that its cable, held by the anchor while theplanter advances, may rotate the drum and actuate the dropper. After apredetermined amount of rotation this drum unlocks the other and isafterward itself rotated in a reverse direction automatically to rewindits cable and is then locked, preventing the cable from being again paidout until this drum is in turn unlocked by the second. Thus as themachine advances the two cables are alternately paid out and rewound,and the dropping goes on uniformly and indefinitely.

In the drawings, Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 are respectively side,sectional, plan, and front views of the machine as a whole. Figs. 5 andplanter.

'positely wound upon the drums.

6 are respectively plan view and front elevation of certain locking andwinding mechanism. Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7 7, Fig. 9. Fig. 8is a section on the line8 8,Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a detail view of parts ofthe Winding mechanism. Figs. 10, 11, and 12 are sections on the lines 1010, 11 11, 12 12, respectively, of Fig. 9. Figs. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and18 are detail views.

In the figures, A represents the frame of a planter, and D D are drumsmounted thereon. O O are cables for rotating in one direction the drumsupon which they are wound, 6 5 and W W are preferably chain-like anchorsor weights attached to the free ends of the cables, respectively, andnormally lying upon the ground beneath or in the rear of the Thedrum-shafts S T bear at their inner ends, respectively, pinions D Dwhich engage, upon opposite sides thereof, a geared disk R, and that thetwo pinions when rotated by the cables may tend to rotate the disk inthe same direction the cables are op- The drums are rigidly fixed totheir shafts, while the pinions are loose thereon, but provided withspring-pawls P, which engage ratchet-wheels P, fixed to the shafts,whenever the drums are rotated by their cables, but slip over theratchet-wheels when the shafts are rotated in the reverse direction. Thedisk is thus rotated in one direction only and is so rotated wheneverthere is cable-induced rotation of either or both the drums. Both drumsmay be locked against rotation by the cables by sliding rods K Kengaging teeth d upon the drums, respectively. If one be' locked and theother unlocked and if the planter advance, the weight attached to theunlocked drum ceases to advance with the planter and by exerting avirtual pull upon its cable turns the drum and rotates the disk B. Asthe drum-shaft thus rotates an arm F or G, work ing on a threaded partof the shaft, travels along the shaft and away from the drum. Before thecable is fully unwound this moving arm strikes a nut N or N. upon therod K or K, slides the rod, and unlocks the'other drum, and the secondweight" ceasing to ad-' vance with the planter both drums-for the momentact in unison to rotate the-disk R. The rod K or K when retracted islocked by ICO a pawl K itself held by a trip K lyingin position to bestruck at the proper time by the arm G or F and forced thereby to liftthe pawl and allow the rod to again lock the cor responding drum. In thefurther advance of the arm F, for example, this being the arm the actionof which is most fully illustrated,Figs. '7 to 11, a lug f upon that armstrikes a stop L upon an arm L, pivoted to a member L of the frame,overcomes the force of a spring L swings the latter arm, and thus causesa catch L to release a projection L upon an other arm L, which holds aclutch member E out of engagement with a corresponding member E, carriedby a constantly-rotating gear E A spring L then throws the clutch intoen gagement, and a pivoted arm L swings and engages a shoulder L with aprojection L upon the arm L thus locking the clutch in engagement. Thegear E now reverses the motion of the shaft and arm F, leaving thepinion D at rest, but rewinding the cable. Meantime the other arm Ghasbeen traveling along its shaft, and at the proper time it releases therod which looks the drum D. As the arm F travels back toward the drum itstrikes a stop L upon an arm L and swings the latter, releasing theprojection L or unlocking the clutch. In its further advance the arm Fswings an arm L which, acting through a rod L spring L and the arm Ldraws the clutch out of engagement to be locked, as at first, by thecatch L and projection The gearE above mentioned, is constantly rotatedfrom the supporting-wheels of the planter by a sprocket wheel 1, chain2, sprocket-wheel 3, shaft E and gear E The shaft E acting throughsprocket-and-chain mechanism 4,also rotates constantly one member of aclutch J, having the same relation to the shaft T that the clutchbefore-mentioned has to the shaft S.

Upon the disk R are cam-like projections r,

, in the path of which normally lies one end of a bar R, mounted in theframe A to slide radially with respect to the disk. As the disk rotatesthe projections successively force the bar outward against the upper endof a centrally-pivoted lever H and then allow it to return suddenlyunder the force of a spring h, which resists the outward movement of thelever. To the lower end of this lever is pivoted a link H which lies inthe groove of a pulley 7L5 and is normally held above the bottom of thegroove by a wedge-shaped block h, fixed to the link. Near its free endthe link has a slot h, and as the lever H forces the link longitudinallyrearward the block h leaves the pulley and the link falls while in suchposition that a gudgeon h upon the end of a lever I-I enters the slot,as is clearly seen in Fig. 13. The lever just mentioned is an arm from arock-shaft H, the movement of which operates ordinary droppingmechanism, as shown in Fig. 17. As the lever H is returned to positionby the spring h the link first swings the arm H actuating the droppingdevices and then against the resistance of a spring h is raised off thegudgeon by the block 7& as the latter again rides up upon the pulley.The released arm H is instantly returned to position by a spring 72Figs. 1 and 17. The place of the seed dropped by the action of devicesjust described is marked by means of an arm h from the rock-shaft, a rodM, and a marker M M rocking upon a pivotshaft M Usually the cables areboth fully wound upon the drums at the outset, and the drums are bothlocked, so that the machine may move from place to place withoutdropping seed. To set the dropping devices in operation, the attendantslides the rod B, Fig. 18, with his foot, overcoming the force of aspring I3 and swinging a bell-crank lever B B about an axis 13 thusdrawing the rod K out of engagement with the drum D and allowing thelatter to be 'rotated by its weight and-cable. The traveling arms F Gand their connections constitute timing mechanisms to govern the lockingand unlocking of both the two clutches and the two drums.

lVhat we claim is 1. In a planter, the combination with the frame anddropping mechanism thereon, of devices for operating said mechanism, ananchor to lie upon the ground, and a cable attached to said anchor andconnected to said devices to actuate them through the virtual pull ofthe weight as the planter advances.

2. In a planter, the combination with a frame and dropping devicesthereon, of an anchor to lie upon the ground, a cable operativelyconnecting the anchor and said devices,

and automatic means for rewinding the cable at intervals.

3. In a corn-planter, the combination with dropping mechanism, ofgearing for actuating said mechanism, two drums each actuating saidgearing by its own rotation in the proper direction, cables winding uponsaid drums, respectively, anchors attached to the cables, respectively,to hold them and thus force the drums to rotate in said direction as theplanter advances, and gearing acting automatically at intervals torewind the cables.

4. The combination with dropping and marking devices, of mechanism forsimultaneously operating both, an anchor to rest upon the ground, and acable attached to said anchor and connected to said mechanism to actuateit.

5. The combination with a suitable frame and dropping mechanismsupported thereon, of two drums revolubly mounted upon the frame, meanswhereby the rotation of either drum in the proper direction actuatessaid mechanism, cables Winding upon the drums, respectively, anchors orweights attached to the cables and normally at rest upon the ground, andmeans for automatically rewinding each cable 'While the other isunwinding under the virtual pull of its weight.

6. The combination with a planter-frame,

of marking devices carried by the frame,mechanism for operating saiddevices, an anchor normally at rest upon the ground while theplanteradvances, and a cable attached to said weight and operativelyconnected to said mechanism to actuate it.

7. The combination with a planter-frame carrying dropping mechanism, ofdrums revolubly mounted upon the frame and operating said mechanism bytheir own rotation, cables winding upon the drums,respectively,weightsattached to the cables, respectively, and normally at rest upon theground while the planter advances, means for locking each drum, andautomatic devices for alternately unlocking the drums and rewindingtheir cables.

b. The combination with a suitable frame and dropping mechanism thereon,of a drum mounted upon the frame to operate said mechanism by its ownrotation in one direction, a drum-rotating cable upon the drum, ananchor attached to said cable an d normally resting upon the ground,whereby the drum is rotated in said direction as the frame advances,devices actuated by the planters advance for rotating the drum in thecontrary direction to rewind the cable, and automatic means forperiodically throwing said devices into and out of action.

9. The combination with a planter-frame and dropping mechanism thereon,of suitablymounted drums, cables winding upon the drums, respectively,anchors attached to the cables, respectively, and normally resting uponthe ground, means whereby the dropping mechanism is actuated byunwinding rotation of either drum, and means for rotating the two drumsin a contrary direction alternately.

10. The combination with a planter-frame bearing dropping mechanism, ofdrums fixed to shafts mounted upon the frame and each rotated in onedirection by the rotation of the planter-wheels and in the otherdirection by cables attached to anchors normally resting upon theground, a geared disk actuating the dropper mechanism, pinions mountedupon the drum-shafts, respectively, and engaging said disk, andpawl-and-ratchet mechanism compelling the pinions to rotate with theirshafts in one direction but leaving them free while the shafts rotate inthe contrary direction.

11. The combination with the frame and dropping mechanism thereon, oftwo drums upon the frame, means whereby each drum while rotating in onedirection actuates said mechanism, means for locking each drum, meansfor rotating the drums independently in such direction, and meanswhereby each drum after a certain amount of rotation in such directionautomatically unlocks the other.

12. The combination with the frame and dropping mechanism thereon, oftwo drums upon said frame, cables winding upon the drums, respectively,and each provided with an anchor to engage the ground and thus force itscable to unwind as the frame advances and thereby rotate its drum, meanswhereby such rotation actuates said mechanism, automatic means forrewinding each cable, after a certain amount of unwinding, and lockingits drum, and means whereby the one drum unlocks the other during itsown dropper-actuating rotation.

13. The combination with the wheel-supported planter-frame, of thedropping mechanism, a drum upon the frame, an anchor normally at restupon the ground, a cable connecting the anchor to the drum and windingupon the latter, means whereby the rotation of the drum by the virtualpull of the anchor upon its cable actuates the dropper, gearing actuatedfrom the wheels to rewind the cable, and means whereby the rotation ofthe drum by its cable throws said gearing into action at the propertime.

14. The combination with a wheel'supported planter-frame and droppingmechanism thereon, of a drum upon the frame, a cable winding upon thedrum, an anchor attached to the cable to draw the latter and rotate thedrum as the frame advances, devices operated from the wheels to rewindthe cable, a threaded shaft rotated by the drum, an arm traveling uponsaid shaft, and means whereby the arm at the proper points in its paththrows said devices into and out of operative connection with the drum.

15. The combination with a wheel-supported planter-frame bearingdropping mechanism, of a drum mounted upon the frame, a loose pinionupon the drum-shaft, pawl-andratchet devices compelling the pinion torotate with the shaft in one direction only, a geared disk engaged bythe pinion and provided with cam projections for actuating the droppingmechanism, an anchor, a cable connecting the anchor to the drum andwinding upon the latter, and means for periodically rewinding the cableupon the drum.

16. The combination with the planterframe bearing the droppingmechanism, of two drums revolubly mounted upon the frame, cables Windingupon the drums, respectively, and each attached to its anchor, means forlocking both drums forcing both anchors to move on with the machine, anddevices operable by an attendant to unlock one of the drums at will.

Signed by us this 2d day of May, A. D. 1898.

ARLA J. nuer'nzs. DAVID o. HINDMAN.

\Vitnesses:

PULASKI REEVE, H. T. PEMBERTON.

